CREJ

22 / 32

Page 22 — Property Management Quarterly — January 2018
O ver the past year I have
become more possessive of
projects I designed. I always
enjoyed seeing them serve
their purpose and fulfilling
visions, but as news stories about
tragedies became consistent, I start-
ed feeling increasingly protective
of the people using the properties
I designed. The real estate com-
munity has reacted appropriately
to begin addressing security, safety
and protection. But we have an
opportunity and responsibility to
take steps to address the sense of
vulnerability that is gripping the
public.
As commercial real estate profes-
sionals, we touch virtually everyone
on a daily basis. Everyone lives,
works or engages in daily life in a
building or public accommodation
that we have designed, built, own,
service or operate. Which means we
can take the lead in making a dif-
ference. What I learned is that the
difference is found in awareness
and preparation.
Active threats are part of our real-
ity, with events happening almost
daily. This is a difficult subject to
talk about, but thinking about and
planning for response to an active
threat can save lives. As the saying
goes, “your body cannot go where
your mind has not been.” Prepared-
ness is an important part of ready-
ing your body to take action should
you find yourself in an active threat
situation. Preparing for disasters
can be uncomfortable. However, we
know talking about active threats
and taking small steps toward pre-
paredness can be empowering.
We need the
public – our clients
– to understand
that they are not
helpless. On the
contrary, they are
key to the commu-
nity effort to sup-
press a threat and
respond and recov-
er if it comes to
pass. This is where
property managers
come into the pic-
ture. It is vital that
management staff
is trained and pre-
pared to react to
an active threat.
It is important that a facil-
ity is known and familiar to first
responders and security personnel.
But, communicating those plans
and preparing the tenants (whether
they are professionals, students,
residents or worshipers) is going to
make the difference in the long run.
In reality, in those first 5 minutes of
a tragedy and then in the following
days, months and years, these are
the individuals directly impacted.
They will put it back together, grow
together and take care of each
other.
The professional response to
an active threat is the purview of
law enforcement. However, every
individual and organization has
a responsibility to be adequately
prepared to respond and recover
should it occur near them. It is
our collective responsibility to be
empowered to save lives. In the
case of an active threat, the police
department and paramedics will
respond immediately. Since most
incidents are over in 5 minutes
or less, lay responders play a cru-
cial role in saving lives before law
enforcement arrives.
So, what do we do? I decided to
become aware. I wanted to con-
tribute more to our community
than just design or a simple busi-
ness transaction – which lead me
to become involved. What I am
working to communicate is that
resources exist to help build a
resilient community within your
building, campus or development.
By taking the lead and bringing the
necessary training opportunities
to tenants and employees, you can
multiply our resiliency by huge fac-
tors. You can strengthen these rela-
tively small communities, and when
they go home at night, they can
strengthen the community at large.
We want managers to start talk-
ing about preparing for active
threats. The more people talk about
preparedness, the more likely they
are to do something to get ready to
respond. Engage tenants in plan-
ning and preparation, and com-
municate the building’s plans and
resources. Managers can provide
training and empowerment for
identifying and reacting to threats
and teach essential first-aid that
will save lives before emergency
personnel arrive. Managers can
assemble resources for recovery.
In short, managers can build trust,
confidence, capabilities and com-
munity.
Management
Facts about active threats
in the workplace
The following informa-
tion is from Corona Insights
Workplace Violence Training
Research.
• One in four employees
knows at least one person
who has been threatened
with violence in the work-
place.
• Many employees are inter-
ested in first-aid training and
other actions to take during
an emergency.
• Thirty percent of employ-
ees say they are concerned
about workplace violence
emergencies, and 40 percent
of employees say they would
like to learn more about how
to respond in these situations.
• Eighty-seven percent of HR
managers agree that formal
training on workplace vio-
lence would make their orga-
nization more prepared.
• Employees are very inter-
ested in learning about
actions to take during an inci-
dent of workplace violence.
• Since 2013, and with
increasing frequency since
then, an active-shooter inci-
dent has occurred every two
to three weeks in the U.S.
• More than 1,270 people
have been killed or wounded
in 200 active-shooter inci-
dents between 2000 and 2015.
Todd Decker,
AIA
Regional
preparedness
lead, American
Red Cross, and
commercial
facilities architect,
Denver